Iran executed at least 21 people during its 12-day conflict with Israel last month including six men accused of spying for the Jewish state, according to a report by Oslo-based rights group Iran Human Rights (IHR).
IHR said many of the espionage trials were rushed and relied on confessions obtained under torture.
Among those hanged on espionage charges were political prisoners Esmail Fekri who was executed after a 10-minute trial without access to a lawyer, Mohammad Amin Mahdavi Shayesteh who allegedly confessed under torture and three Kurdish men including an Iraqi national accused of assisting in the 2020 assassination of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, according to IHR.
“The Islamic Republic is at its weakest point in its history, and in order to survive, it needs to carry out more executions to intimidate what it sees as its greatest threat: the Iranian people,” said IHR Director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam.
The group said 98 people were executed in total across Iran in June alone. Nearly half were executed for drug-related offenses, while 32 were carried out under the Islamic law of retribution for murder, IHR's report said.
Among those put to death were Afghan nationals, members of Iran’s Kurdish, Arab, and Baluch minorities and one woman.
IHR's report comes amid an escalating crackdown on dissent following the conflict in which Iran's military and nuclear program were dealt big setbacks.
Rezgar Beigzadeh Babamiri, a Kurdish political prisoner arrested during the 2022 nationwide protests, was sentenced to death on charges including plotting to assassinate Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, his daughter told Iran International on Thursday.
At least 612 people were executed in the first half of 2025 — a 119% increase compared to the same period last year, the report added.
Iran accounted for 64% of all known global executions in 2024, with at least 972 people executed, according to Amnesty International, in what the rights group deems an ongoing official campaign to suppress dissent.
